Unified Counter-Insurgency Strategy

Chhattisgarh CM, Raman Singh, called for a unified strategy in combating the Maoists. Chhatisgarh has been particularly affected by the weaknesses of India’s federal system.

The Bastar region is Chhattisgarh’s most Naxal affected area. The dense forests of Bastar are adjacent to the Telegana region of Andhra Pradesh, a historic stronghold of revolutionary militancy. As a source of cadre recruits and training for Maoist squads, Telegana has been an ideal place for basing mobile squads who attack targets in Chhattisgarh and then flee across the border.

The Indian constitution isn’t well-suited for tackling a diffuse insurgency. A highly federalised state coupled with the constitutional sledgehammer that allows the central government to impose emergency rule relatively easily, India does not have a structure that encourages quiet intra-governmental co-operation. This is a problem particularly for poorer states who lack the resources to adequately tackle Naxalism from either a military or developmental angle:

Asserting that Naxal menace would be controlled in Chhattisgarh in 4-5 years, Singh said the problem has been checked to a great extent but due to porous borders the ultras kept moving into the state from outside.